Thanks for checking in!!!

It's a relief knowing my blogpals are fine, thought Kate A still hasn't checked in. Will assume she's safe and sound.

My own family is well. Though none live in London itself, they're all close enough that they could have been there for the day for one reason or another. 31 years ago we just missed being at the Tower of London the day it was bombed. My poor dad thought we WERE there as he knew we'd planned on going that day - he was on business in Germany and called my nana's that night, frantic. My mum told him she'd woken that morning with a strange feeling and decided we wouldn't go. I gather a family of tourists in London yesterday escaped harm because one of the children couldn't find a sweater and they stayed in the hotel looking for it when they were meant to be on or near the bus that exploded.

I guess this will turn out to be another one of those "Where were you when you heard..." historical events. As far as I'm concerned, I've experienced too many as it is. I woke up just past seven yesterday morning (the cat let me sleep for once, bless his fuzzy little heart) and once I'd deteremined it was a decent hour, I rolled over to switch on the radio. We always listen to CBC's local morning show and I knew my sweeti-pie (who is reading the news this week) would be on soon. Instead I heard one of the London reporters and at first I couldn't even understand what she was talking about - I caught her in mid-sentence. Then she said something about the remains of the double decker bus. At which point I said WTF? and reached for the tv remote. Went to CNN first then to CBC Newsworld (our CNN), to see the photos. By then the national newscast had finished and the local CBC had tapped into the BBC reports and I listened in horror as the extent of what had happened became clear. And I started to cry. First, because I was worried about those I love and then, just because the world has seen so many horrible things recently, it doesn't need any more. It's bad enough when the natural world attacks us, but must we do this to ourselves? Fundamentally we're all human beings, no matter our beliefs, politics etc. There is NO need for this senseless violence.

As a historian I KNOW this has all happened before and will keep on happening, but my emotional side rejects that and wishes we could all just stop fighting and find a way to solve the problems of this world through negotiation and cooperation. Yeah, I know "Dreamer, you're nothing but a dreamer" (Supertramp), but I can't help it. The kind of madness we witnessed yesterday, last year in Spain, and before that Sep 11, Kenya etc, is not the solution either.

Ok - now I've got that off my chest, I'd best try to focus on my ms again. I couldn't work yesterday. Ironically, it was a beautiful day, perfect for walking. Blue sky, light breeze, minimal humidity and moderate temps. Listening to the CBC on my mp3 player, I wandered through the neighbourhood and alongside the stormwater pond (doesn't sound pretty, but there's lots of nice landscaping - much nicer than you'd think) and stopped to look at the families of Canada geese which have taken up residence there. The babies have grown so quickly - you can barely tell them from their parents now! Ended up at Staples and bought some stuff for Reno - new bus cards (with really find perforations), labels etc. Stopped at Starbucks for a raspberry latte (comfort food as I really couldn't eat), bought a b-day card for a friend then headed home. I felt calmer after that - would have loved your company, Màili!

Yoiks, I rambled again. Really, this time I'll be quiet and get on with my work.


Teresa